‘Irreparable Harm’: Judge Issues Permanent Injunction Against Wayne Disposal Radioactive Shipments

Tony Carbone | June 3, 2026

Ai generated image.

WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. — For nearly two years, residents, local governments, and environmental advocates across western Wayne County have been fighting one question: should radioactive waste from a Cold War-era federal cleanup project end up in a landfill sitting near neighborhoods, schools, and one of Southeast Michigan’s most important watersheds?

A Wayne County judge has now given a clear answer.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kevin J. Cox has permanently barred Wayne Disposal Inc. from accepting radioactive material tied to the federal cleanup of Manhattan Project-era waste. The decision turns a temporary injunction issued in August 2025 into a permanent court order, stopping shipments from the Niagara Falls Storage Site in New York to the Van Buren Township landfill.

The ruling is significant not simply because of the waste involved, but because of how the court viewed the risk.

In a written opinion issued after a bench trial, Cox concluded that continued disposal of the material would constitute a public nuisance. More importantly, he found that the potential harm could not be undone after the fact. Money can compensate for damaged property. It cannot reverse contamination concerns, restore public confidence, or eliminate long-term health fears once they take hold in a community.

That distinction became central to the case.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2024 by the City of Belleville, Canton Township, the City of Romulus, and Van Buren Township after residents learned that thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil and concrete could be transported into the area. Wayne County later joined the challenge.

During the proceedings, plaintiffs pointed to rising radiation readings recorded around the landfill over several years, concerns about monitoring practices, and the absence of radon monitoring near nearby residential areas, schools, and waterways. The landfill’s proximity to the Huron River watershed also remained a recurring concern throughout the case.

Supporters of the ruling see it as more than a legal victory. They see it as a rare example of local communities successfully pushing back against a decision that many believed shifted environmental risks onto an area already carrying a disproportionate pollution burden.

That’s where the environmental justice argument enters the picture.

State environmental screening data shows the census tract containing the landfill already ranks high for pollution exposure compared to other Michigan communities. Residents argued that adding radioactive waste to an area already dealing with existing environmental pressures crossed a line that should never have been considered acceptable in the first place.

The landfill’s owner, Republic Services, sees the matter differently.

The company argued throughout the trial that Wayne Disposal operates under extensive state and federal oversight and has safely managed similar materials for decades. According to testimony presented in court, the facility has accepted hundreds of thousands of tons of comparable TENORM waste without documented incidents. Republic Services has already announced plans to appeal, warning that the decision could complicate future remediation projects and raise broader questions about interstate waste disposal.

That appeal will likely determine the next chapter.

For now, however, the court’s decision represents a substantial win for local governments and residents who refused to treat the issue as somebody else’s problem. It also sends a broader message about how communities are increasingly challenging environmental decisions that once moved forward with little public scrutiny.

The landfill fight isn’t completely over. Separate disputes involving expansion permits and future waste restrictions are still working their way through regulatory and legal channels.

But on the central question that brought thousands of residents into the debate, the court has spoken.

And for the communities surrounding Wayne Disposal, that answer carries more weight than any truckload of waste ever could.

— Tony Carbone

Opinion | No Apologies

Sources: planetdetroit.org, VanBurenTwp, michiganadvance.com, wxyz.com.